precise positioning services in the maritime sector · brisbane level 15, 127 creek street brisbane...

Precise positioning services in

the maritime sector

An estimate of the economic and social benefits of the

use of augmented positioning services in the maritime

sector

Prepared for the Department of Industry, Innovation,

Climate Change, Science, Research and Tertiary

Education

June 2013

ACIL Allen Consulting Pty Ltd

ABN 68 102 652 148 Internet www.acilallen.com.au

Melbourne (Head Office) Level 4, 114 William Street Melbourne VIC 3000

Telephone (+61 3) 9604 4400 Facsimile (+61 3) 9604 4455 Email [email protected]

Brisbane Level 15, 127 Creek Street Brisbane QLD 4000 GPO Box 32 Brisbane QLD 4001


Canberra Level 2, 33 Ainslie Place Canberra City ACT 2600 GPO Box 1322 Canberra ACT 2601


Perth Centa Building C2, 118 Railway Street West Perth WA 6005


Sydney Level 20, Tower 2 Darling Park 201 Sussex Street Sydney NSW 2000 GPO Box 4670 Sydney NSW 2001


For information on this report

Please contact:

Alan Smart Telephone 02 8272 5114 Mobile 0404 822 312 Email [email protected]

http://www.acilallen.com.au/

mailto:[email protected]






A C I L A L L E N C O N S U L T I N G

iii

Contents

Executive summary v

1 Introduction 1

2 The maritime sector 1

3 Positioning requirements in the maritime sector 1

4 The value of applications in general shipping 3

4.1 Economic Benefits 3

4.2 Navigation and GNSS 4

4.2.1 Electronic Chart Display Information Systems (ECDIS) 5

4.2.2 AIS 6

4.3 Pilots 6

4.4 Under keel clearance 8

5 Monitoring and control 8

5.1 Benefits 8

5.2 Vessel Traffic Services (VTS) 11

5.3 Automated ship reporting 12

6 Offshore oil and gas operations 14

6.1 Benefits 14

6.1.1 GNSS in offshore oil and gas operations 14

6.2 Dynamic Positioning 14

6.3 Survey and geotechnical 15

6.3.1 Hydrographic surveys 15

6.3.2 Geotechnical surveys 16

6.4 Mobile drilling rigs 16

7 Future directions – e-navigation 17

7.1 Benefits 17

8 Economic and social impacts 17

Appendix A Glossary of terms A-1

Appendix B National Plan for Combat of Oil Pollution at Sea B-1

Appendix C Minimum maritime user requirements C-1

Appendix D References D-1


iv

List of boxes Box 1 AMSA’s DGPS service 5

Box 2 Portable pilot units 7

Box 3 REEFVTS 9

List of figures Figure 1 Groundings since the introduction of REEFVTS 10

Figure 2 Estimates of vessel calling in regional ports. 11

Figure 3 REEfVTS area 13

Figure 4 Dynamic positioning 15

Figure 5 Seismic survey 16

List of tables Table 1 Estimates of the benefits derived from navigation technologies

dependent on augmented GNSS 18

Table 2 History of oil spills B-1

Table 3 Oil spill risk assessment 2011 B-2

Table 4 Oil spill risk assessment 2020 B-2


Executive summary v

Executive summary

The maritime sector relies on accurate positioning for safe navigation and

operation of ships in confined waters, in environmentally sensitive areas and

for operations in the offshore oil and gas sector.

Position accuracy requirements vary according to the specific circumstances. In

general position accuracy required is:

• 10 metre horizontal accuracy for general navigation

• 2.5 metres in ports

• 10 cm for marine engineering, dredging and hydrographic mapping

• 1 metre for tugs, cable, pipe laying and aids to navigation

• 1 cm for automatic docking.

Integrity is as important as position. Navigation standards specify a time to

alarm of 10 seconds.

Positioning information from Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) is

used in the current generation of shipboard devices such as the Automatic

Identification System (AIS) and in Electronic Chart Display and Information

Systems (ECDIS). GNSS is also used in many cases as the sole accurate timing

reference on board a ship. These systems will be key elements of an e-

navigation concept that international and national regulatory authorities are

developing to further improve the safety of marine navigation.

The International Maritime Organization issued minimum maritime user

requirements for positioning for marine navigation. To meet these

requirements, augmented GNSS is required in ports and port operations, for

dredging and cable laying, construction works and for marine aids to

navigation (IMO, 2001). It is used by marine pilots for navigation in ports,

docking activities and in under keel clearance systems. It is also used in the

conduct of hydrographic and geophysical surveys. The offshore oil and gas

sector uses GNSS for positioning work vessels and mobile drilling rigs.

Given the regulatory requirements for positional accuracy and time-to-alarm

(integrity monitoring) it is difficult to envisage marine navigation without

augmented GNSS for the above operations.

The economic and social benefits of navigation technologies relying on

augmented GNSS include:

• Reducing the frequency of groundings in Torres Strait saving between $0.6

million and $0.8 million per year on average in clean up and salvage costs.

• Under keel clearance management systems to be introduced in 2013 which

could deliver benefits of between $10 million and $13 million per year to

the shipping industry by 2020.


Executive summary vi

• Savings in port infrastructure from improved channel tolerances reducing

the cost of buoys and dredging by around $1.8 million in 2012 and $2

million in 2020.

• reduced environmental risks from oil spills estimated of around $1.9

million in 2012 and $3.4 million in 2020.

• Around 10 per cent saving in lost down time for geophysical surveys worth

around $5 million in 2012 and $10 million in 2020.

The total amount attributable to the maritime sector total to around $4.2

million in 2012 and 16.2 million by 2020. These amounts represent around

0.07 per cent and 0.30 per cent of total output from the maritime sector. The

savings in seismic surveying have been attributed to the mining sector for the

economic analysis.

Key findings

• GNSS has become a component of position fixing for ships and will

improve, replace or supplement existing position fixing systems some of

which have shortcomings in regard to integrity, availability, control and

system life expectancy.

• Augmented GNSS is used in many operations including navigation in ports

and environmentally sensitive areas, operation of tugs, dredging and

construction works, hydrographic geotechnical surveys and for offshore oil

and gas operations.

• The maritime sector draws on all types of augmentation systems including

the Differential GPS service provided by the Australian Maritime Safety

Authority, RTK stand-alone, CORS networks where available and wide

area space based services.

• There are a wide range of economic and social benefits that arise from the

use of augmented GNSS in the maritime sector. The value of safety of life

at sea and the protection of the marine environment against oil spills is very

significant.

• The shipping industry is moving towards an e-navigation concept where a

range of electronic and radio navigation technologies will provide safe and

secure support for navigation by mariners. Augmented GNSS is one of the

supporting technologies for e-navigation.


Introduction 1

1 Introduction

ACIL Allen Consulting, in partnership with SKM and Lester Franks Surveyors

and Planners, has been commissioned by the Department of Industry,

Innovation, Climate Change, Science, Research and Tertiary Education to

assess the value of augmented positioning services in Australia. This report

addresses the aviation sector.

The purpose of this report is to provide an understanding of the economic and

social benefits of precise positioning information within the aviation sector.

This information is to allow better informed decision-making and assist in

identifying areas for growth and investment from both the private sector and

government. It will also provide context to the National Positioning

Infrastructure Plan being developed by Geoscience Australia.

2 The maritime sector

The maritime sector includes commercial ocean and coastal shipping (including

the cruise ship sector, which is seeing growth in many parts of the world,

including Australia), stevedoring, port and water transport operations, offshore

construction and maintenance, and marine activities associated with

geophysics, oil and gas extraction1.

The sector makes a significant contribution to the Australian economy through

carriage of Australian trade. In 2010-12 Australia’s exports by sea were worth

$222.6 billion and grew at an annual average growth of 10.7 per cent over the

previous five years. Australia’s imports by sea were worth $160.9 billion and

increased at an annual average rate of 5.5 per cent over the previous five years

(BITRE, 2012).

Important sub-sectors of the shipping industry also operate in areas of high

environmental value. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and Torres Strait are

important sea lanes for transport of bulk commodities, petroleum,

containerised goods and for tourism. Safety of navigation in the

environmentally sensitive and navigationally challenging waters of the Great

Barrier Reef and Torres Strait is critical.

3 Positioning requirements in the maritime sector

The maritime industry is truly an international one and where requirements for

the safety of navigation are established by the International Maritime

Organization (IMO) of which Australia is a founding member. Member States

1 The maritime sector as described above is captured in Divisions B (Mining) and I (transport)

in the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industry Classification.


Positioning requirements in the maritime sector 2

of the IMO have recognised the need for a civil and internationally controlled

global navigational satellite system (GNSS) provision of navigational position-

fixing for maritime purposes throughout the world for general navigation and

for navigation in restricted waters such as ports and passages (International

Maritime Organization, 2001).

The IMO has recognised that GNSS will improve, replace or supplement

existing position fixing systems some of which have shortcomings in regard to

integrity, availability, control and system life expectancy.

The requirements for position accuracy, integrity and service levels vary

according to the type of marine activity involved. Reliability and integrity are

also important criteria for safety of navigation. Integrity is the ability to provide

users with warnings within a specified time when the system should not be

used for navigation2. Alert limit is the magnitude of positional error before a

warning is issued. A summary of these requirements set by the IMO is outlined

below and a full description is provided in section Appendix C.

The IMO requirements for general maritime navigation are 10 metre

horizontal accuracy and 1 metre in ports. A more important criterion is

integrity where the time to alarm for an outage is 10 seconds and the alert limit

is 25 metres for general navigation and 2.5 metres for ports. Accuracy for

activities such as docking is generally more demanding. The horizontal

accuracy required for automatic docking is 1 cm. Accuracy requirements for

tugs and icebreakers is 1 metre. In each of these cases the integrity

requirements are a time to alarm of 10 seconds and an alert limit of 2.5 metres.

Horizontal accuracy for marine engineering is 10 cm for dredging and

construction works and 1 metre for cable and pipeline laying and for

management of aids to navigation. Integrity requirements for these activities

are 10 seconds time to alarm with alert limits of 25 cm for dredging and

construction works and 2.5 metres for cable laying and management of aids to

navigation.

Hydrographic mapping also requires accuracies of around 10 cm.

2 Integrity monitoring is the process of determining whether the system performance) allow

use for navigation purposes. Overall GNSS system integrity is described by three parameters: the threshold value or alert limit, the time to alarm and the integrity risk. The output of integrity monitoring is that individual (erroneous) observations or the overall GNSS system cannot be used for navigation (International Maritime Organization, 2001).


The value of applications in general shipping 3

4 The value of applications in general shipping

4.1 Economic Benefits

Augmented GNSS supports a range of technologies, service and systems that

deliver benefits in the maritime sector. This includes reducing maritime

accidents and groundings, lowering environmental risk factors, reducing the

incidents and risks of oil spills and reducing the infrastructure costs for ports.

Safety of navigation depends on the reliability of human decision making

supported by aids to navigation. Accidents and groundings potentially

endanger the environment and also create costs for administrations and the

industry in clean-up of any resultant pollution (e.g. oil spills) or management of

incidents when they arise.

The cost of oil spills varies. Recent evidence in Australia demonstrated that a

significant oil spill could cause costs in salvage and clean-up of around $30

million3. A serious oil spill would be catastrophic if it occurred in the Great

Barrier Reef Marine Park.

The Great Barrier Reef region supports a variety of commercial and

recreational activities including fishing, tourism and recreation worth in excess

of $5 billion per annum to the Australian economy. The shipping of bulk

cargoes and petroleum transport through the reef accounts for some $17

billion of Australia’s export trade. (Access Economics, 2005). With the

commencement of LNG shipping from Gladstone in 2014 this value will

increase significantly.

This economic activity depends on safe shipping operations in the Great

Barrier Reef Marine Park as well as Torres Strait. Augmented GNSS

contributes to safer shipping operations in these waters and plays an important

supporting role underpinning these economic activities. It does so in many

ways.

For example, a study Under Keel Clearance (UKC) commissioned by the

Australian Maritime Safety Authority in 2008 examined the use of UKC

management systems in the Torres Strait and Great Barrier Reef. UKC systems

in this area also rely on augmented GNSS. This was shown to deliver potential

savings to the bulk shipping sector of between $10 million and $13 million per

year (Thomson Clarke, March 2007). Augmented GNSS plays a supporting

role with portable pilot units for UKC management systems in these areas.

Augmented GNSS can in some cases deliver lower costs for port operations.

An unpublished study prepared for the Queensland Department of Natural

3 See later discussion in section 5.3.



Resources and Water in 2007 reported that augmented GNSS pilotage systems

and improved channel tolerances had reduced the need for buoys in a major

Queensland coal port, saving around $4 million in capital costs. It would be

reasonable to assume that other similar ports are also realising benefits.

Assuming similar savings are possible in around 5 similar ports in Australia this

could save around $1.8 million per annum in depreciation and maintenance.

4.2 Navigation and GNSS

The task of marine navigation has been subject to considerable technological

change over the past decades. Mariners rely on several sources of information

to locate their position. This includes celestial navigation, light houses, radar

and radar enhancers, radionavigation systems and GNSS. Celestial navigation

has more or less been replaced by GNSS. The shipping industry has become

increasingly dependent on GNSS over the past decade with GNSS becoming

the primary means of position determination (AMSA, March 2012).

Positioning and timing from GNSS are used in the current generation of

shipboard devises such as Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) and

Electronic Chart Display and Information Systems (ECDIS). Augmented

GNSS is also used in many cases as the sole, accurate timing reference on

board ships. Augmented GNSS is required in any area discussed above where

position accuracy of 1 metre or less are required.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority manages a system of sixteen

Differential GPS (DGPS) beacons around the Australian coast to provide

augmented GNSS signals (see Box 1). Commercial services are also used by

marine pilots as discussed in Section 4.3 below.



Box 1 AMSA’s DGPS service

AMSA’s DGPS service provides a network of radio beacons that improve the accuracy and integrity of the

GPS signal around selected areas of the Australian coast. The service is primarily intended for levy-paying

commercial shipping.

The service has been proven to provide accuracy of between 2 to 4 metres for most circumstances

compared with stand-alone GPS accuracy of between 13 to 22 metres. Integrity monitoring is an important

feature of DGPS. The stations test for GPS signals that are out of specification and immediately notify

users to disregard the signal With DGPS the signal out warning occurs within a few seconds of a satellite

becoming faulty. This could take up to 12 hours with stand-alone GPS.

Source: (AMSA, 2012)

The AMSA GNSS provides coverage of major ports and the Great Barrier

Reef and Torres Strait. RTK and CORS services are also sometimes used in

coastal applications for specialist surveying activities. These services, in

conjunction with other navigation and vessel tracking systems, underpin safer

navigation, lower risks of groundings and collisions and facilitate more efficient

port operations. Economic benefits accrue from lower operating costs in ports,

improved productivity in the ship operations and lower environmental damage

costs.

To understand how these benefits arise, it is first necessary to first consider the

framework within augmented GNSS relates to other navigation and

monitoring systems in the maritime sector.

4.2.1 Electronic Chart Display Information Systems (ECDIS)

ECDIS represents one of the most significant changes in maritime navigation

in recent years. The IMO has mandated carriage of EDCIS on larger passenger

ships, tankers and cargo ships engaged on international voyages. The provision



of accurate and reliable position, navigation and timing (PNT) is a core

requirement for the operation of ECDIS.

Precise positioning provided by augmented GNSS signals is particularly

important for use of ECDIS in marine sensitive areas such as the Great Barrier

Reef and for port approaches and navigation in restricted areas. ECDIS

systems can incorporate warning signals that are activated if a vessel ventures

into dangerous waters. Such systems require reliable position accuracy and high

levels of integrity that only augmented GNSS.

4.2.2 AIS

AIS is a ship-to-ship and ship-to-shore data exchange system that exchanges

information on identity, position, course, speed and other ship information,

automatically and continuously between mobile and fixed AIS stations. The

IMO requires the majority of the international fleet to carry AIS and it is also

increasingly being used by smaller commercial and recreational vessels.

AIS is being used for other applications as well including vessel tracking

systems, as a further aid to navigation, for management of under keel

clearance, assisting in responding to oil spills and for search and rescue

operations. It is a framework that contributes to lowering the risk of maritime

accidents and environmental damage.

AIS depends on reliable PNT4 information for which the most cost effective

technology is augmented GNSS5.

4.3 Pilots

The most hazardous part of any ship’s voyage is the transit through a port or

an environmentally sensitive area. Within port limits, where the margins of

safety are greatly reduced, the chances of collateral damage costs are very high.

The added precision and integrity monitoring that DGPS provides is

considered critical for the provision of safe pilotage with the use of PPU

technology.

A growing trend is for pilots to use Portable Pilot Units (PPU) which

increasingly use augmented (GNSS) (see Box 2). The increased accuracy is not

necessarily used in a direct sense, (most pilots are looking out the window or

over the side for the last few metres of positioning accuracy), but the biggest

benefit for increased positional accuracy is through the consequent

improvement in velocity, being a derivation of position changes over time.

The more accurate the knowledge of position each second, the more accurate

the knowledge of velocity will be.

4 PNT stands for Position Navigation and Timing

5 The alternative to augmented GNSS is highly accurate but expensive atomic clocks.



According to a survey of the Australian Marine Pilots Association and Marine

Ports Australia, augmented GNSS is used by pilots in ports in Queensland,

Port Philip Bay, Freemantle, Dampier, Port Headland, Flinders Ports, Albany

and ports in Northern Tasmania. Some use the AMSA DGPS service while

others use commercial services or establish their own reference stations6.

This use is likely to increase as the technology of portable pilot systems

improves and the requirement for safer navigation and applications such as

under keel clearance management systems are introduced.

Box 2 Portable pilot units

Portable pilot units incorporating augmented GNSS capability are

increasingly being used by marine pilots for navigation in ports and

constrained waters and in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park

Source: (Navicom Dynamics, 2013)

Economic value is created when accurate position information is added to the

information in portable pilot units which supports better decision making in

port manoeuvres, in environmentally sensitive areas and when docking.

66 Personal communication


Monitoring and control 8

4.4 Under keel clearance

The economic benefits of under keel clearance were discussed previously. To

ensure sufficient under keel clearances (UKC) of ships transiting Torres Strait,

the current maximum draught for piloted ships is 12.2 metres. Ships with a

draught of 12.2 metres are able to pass through Torres Strait within a tidal

window on any day of the year whilst maintaining the required UKC. Tidal

windows are restricted to periods around times of high water.

UKC management systems have been developed that provide more accurate

information on under keel clearances that allow mariners to operate with

smaller under keel clearances whilst at the same time maintaining an adequate

safety margin. UKC systems require precise positioning and high levels of

reliability. Augmented GNSS is used in the Portable Pilot Units that support

UKC systems.

AMSA has introduced a UKC management system for use by coastal pilots on

board ships transiting Torres Strait. The economic benefits have been outlined

earlier in this report.

5 Monitoring and control

5.1 Benefits

Vessel Tracking Services (VTS) and Automated Ship Reporting have been

important in improving the safety and reliability of ships sailing in Australian

waters. This has delivered economic benefits to the shipping industry by

reducing the risk of maritime accidents and groundings and reducing the risk

of environmental damage from oil spills. They rely on augmented GNSS for

sailing in most parts of Australian Coastal waters.

Since the introduction of the REEFVTS the average number of groundings in

the Great Barrier Reef and Torres Strait has fallen from 1.42 per 10,000

transits to 0.15 groundings per 10,000 transits. This reduction is attributed to

REEFVTS providing timely and accurate information to assist on-board

decision making by the officers on the bridge (see Figure 1).



Box 3 REEFVTS

The Queensland and Australian Governments established REEFVTS in 2004. Its purpose is to:

• make navigation in Torres Strait and the inner route of the Great Barrier Reef safer by working with

shipping to give better information on possible traffic conflicts and other navigational information

• minimise the risk of maritime accidents, and therefore avoid the pollution and damage which such

accidents can cause to the marine environment in the Great Barrier Reef and Torres Strait

• respond quickly if a safety or pollution incident does occur.

REEFVTS is operated jointly by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) and Maritime Safety

Queensland (MSQ). AMSA is an agency of the Commonwealth Government; MSQ is an agency of the

Queensland State Government. REEFVTS operates 24 hours a day from the VTS Centre, situated at

Townsville on the Queensland coast.

Source: (AMSA, July 2011)



Figure 1 Groundings since the introduction of REEFVTS

Data source: (AMSA, 2012)

In 2009-10, there were approximately 10,000 ship movements in the Great

Barrier Reef involving some 3,500 ships7. The number of ships transiting the

area is expected to increase at around 4 per cent per year as shown in Figure 2.

7 Movement' meaning the passage of a ship to, from or between GBR ports, or

on passage through the GBR region en route to or from ports outside of the

GBR region.



Figure 2 Estimates of vessel calling in regional ports.

Data source: (PGM Environment, 2012)

The cost of groundings varies depending on the extent of damage. At a

minimum costs are incurred by the shipping company in lost days and by the

authorities who arrange towing and any clean-up. Charter rates for large bulk

carriers are around $50,000 to 100,000 per day (HANSA, 2013).

The seriousness of groundings varies widely but if it is assumed that on average

grounding might take a vessel out of action for between 3 and 10 days per

grounding the introduction of the REEFVTS would have reduced the average

annual cost of groundings by between $200,000 to $800,000 as a result of the

introduction of REEFVTS. As mentioned earlier, REEFVTS is supported by

the GNSS augmentation signal broadcast from the AMSA beacons in the

Torres Strait.

A grounding or accident which involved an oil spill would have far more

serious consequences.

5.2 Vessel Traffic Services (VTS)

Vessel Traffic Services (VTS) are shore-based systems which range from the

provision of simple information messages to ships, such as the position of

other traffic or meteorological hazard warnings, to extensive management of

traffic within a port or waterway. They require accurate position information

with high reliability. Generally, ships entering a VTS area report to the

authorities, usually by radio, and may be tracked by the VTS using radar,

Automated Identification System (AIS) and other technologies, most of which

are supported by augmented GNSS.

The benefits VTS derive from the fact that it allows identification and

monitoring of vessels, strategic planning of vessel movements and provision of

navigational information and assistance. VTS can also assist in prevention of

pollution and co-ordination of pollution/emergency response. VTS has the

capability to interact and influence the decision-making processes on board

ships. As such it reduces the potential for errors in navigation leading to

incidents and accidents and helps manage the environmental risk associated



with oil spills. As approximately 80% of maritime accidents can be attributed

to the human factor, there is considerable benefit from interaction between the

ship and VTS as an additional safeguard for safe navigation. (AMSA, July 2011)

(IMO, 2009)

5.3 Automated ship reporting

Automatic ship report (AIS) systems Australia produce significant economic

benefits through safer shipping, lower numbers of groundings and lower risk

of environmental damage from oil spills.

Automated ship reporting operates around the Australian coast providing

AMSA with periodic updated reports of a vessels track and speed. The

MASTREP system provides reports around the coast while the REEFREP

monitors vessels travelling through the Great Barrier Reef and Torres Strait.

The AMSA DGPS service provides enhanced position accuracy and most

importantly integrity monitoring of the GPS signal in the REEFVTS area to

ensure that the ships are notified if the GPS signal is out of specification and

should be disregarded. With the DGPS service these warnings are generated

within a few seconds of a satellite becoming unhealthy.

The higher level of positional accuracy and performance integrity is critical for

monitoring movements of ships through constrained shipping lanes and

environmentally sensitive areas such as the Torres Strait and the Great Barrier

Reef. Groundings and potential oil spills in the Great Barrier Reef area would

have significant environmental and clean-up costs. Minimising the possibility

of such events minimises related clean-up and compensation costs to industry

and government and minimises environmental damage in a world heritage area

which also supports an important tourism industry.



Figure 3 REEfVTS area

Data source: (AMSA, July 2011)

As discussed previously, the environmental costs of oil spills are extremely

high in any area of Australia’s coastal seas. Costs involve downtime of ships,

the cost of clean-up, and the cost of towing if necessary. In addition there are

significant environmental damage costs.

The grounding of the Shen Neng 1 in 2010 resulted in loss of about four

metric tonnes of oil into the sea. The Shen Neng 1 did not break up and the

spill was dispersed with chemicals. The incident MV Pacific Adventurer in

Moreton Bay in 2009 however resulted in a more significant oil spill (around

270 tonnes) and clean-up costs of over $ 30 million. If such an event occurred

in the Great Barrier Reef, the clean-up costs would have been significantly

higher.

An assessment of the costs of oil spill risk in the Great Barrier Reef Marine

Park was undertaken in 2011 by DNV. The assessment took into account the

use of VTS, traffic separation schemes, double hull protection and compulsory

pilotage (see section Appendix B). The net risk was assessed as $9.1 million

per year and to increase to $17 million by 2020. The assessment assumed a 79

per cent growth in national traffic between 2011 and 2020 but did not include

growth in shipments of LNG through the GBR Marine Park.


Offshore oil and gas operations 14

It would not be unreasonable to assume that this assessment would have been

around 20 per cent higher without systems supported by augmented GNSS.

This would imply a value of around $1.8 million in 2012 and $3.4 million in

2020.

6 Offshore oil and gas operations

6.1 Benefits

The use of augmented GNSS in bathymetry and in offshore oil and gas

operations has multiple benefits. More accurate bathymetry improves marine

charts and safety of navigation. Augmented GNSS enables more efficient and

lower cost bathymetry compared to other methods.

Augmented GNSS also increases the efficiency of some offshore oil and gas

operations. One large offshore as producer estimated that the use of

augmented GNSS in survey operations saves around 10 per cent in lost

downtime. This would be equivalent to annual savings of between $5 million

and $10 million in savings per years.

Other benefits derive from the use of augmented GNSS in dynamic position

of vessels and in positioning mobile oil drilling platforms.

6.1.1 GNSS in offshore oil and gas operations

Offshore oil and gas operations require positional accuracy for exploration,

drilling, construction, production and operations. The operating environment

is high risk and is generally in remote waters. The cost of accidents is high both

in financial and environmental terms.

They also require precise positioning to locate mobile drilling rigs, to support

survey and geotechnical vessels and to dynamically position vessels during

construction and maintenance operations. This requires accuracy at the sub

metre level and high levels of reliability and integrity.

Augmented GNSS has become an enabling technology in conjunction with

electronic and radio navigation systems and control systems for dynamic

positioning of vessels, mobile drilling rigs and survey and geotechnical vessels.

6.2 Dynamic Positioning

Dynamic Positioning (DP) is a method for the station-keeping or precise

positioning of special purpose marine vessels. A DP system seeks to maintain

the vessel's position and orientation at a level of specified accuracy and

reliability by compensating for the dynamic effect on the vessel of displacing

forces such as wind, wave, and current (refer to figure 4). The core DP

positioning technologies of augmented GNSS and inertial measurement units

(IMU) are integrated with other sensors in a real-time navigation computer to



provide precise and automated commands to the vessel's multi-directional

thrusters.

In general, a DP-capable vessel can complete a work program more efficiently

than a conventionally positioned vessel. It also minimises the potential for

damage to the environment or sub-sea infrastructure from the use of anchors.

Figure 4 Dynamic positioning

Data source: Wordpress

A typical scenario where DP is used is a Diving Support Vessel that has to

work on sub-sea infrastructure installed adjacent to an oil platform. The DP

system allows the vessels to move efficiently around the platform, and any

other exclusion zone, safely and efficiently and without the use of anchors and

trailing mooring lines that increase the risk of entanglement. DP may also

eliminate the need to install acoustic positioning units on the sea floor. The

installation of anchors and acoustic systems is time consuming and has

significant logistic and safety risks, and so in these situations DP has both cost

and risk management benefits.

DP systems are increasingly used in offshore oil and gas operations off the

Australian coast for the positioning of mobile drill rigs, survey and

geotechnical vessels, tugs and platform service vessels where the ability to

control the position and orientation of the vessel is mission critical.

6.3 Survey and geotechnical

6.3.1 Hydrographic surveys

Hydrographic surveys depend on augmented GNSS for coastal/port areas.

The majority of the work uses RTK GNSS or post-processing, where

infrastructure is available, to support this work to the required accuracy. Wide

Area DGPS is used for offshore work8.

With LIDAR (both for bathymetric and land) now being used extensively for

coastal work, environmental modelling for climate change and flood

8 Personal communication from the Australian Hydrographic Service.

http://www.google.com.au/imgres?q=dynamic+positioning&sa=X&biw=1366&bih=651&tbm=isch&tbnid=4KoOCr6q8WCgaM:&imgrefurl=http://www.crowley.com/success-stories/Global-1200-1201-Ship-Management&docid=UailSpqYYjgNQM&imgurl=http://www.crowley.com/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/media/images/success-stories/global/crowley-success-story-global-1200-dynamic-positioning/65131-1-eng-US/Crowley-Success-Story-Global-1200-Dynamic-Positioning_slideshow_large.jpg&w=600&h=450&ei=FCCbUc37LsSnlAWirIG4CQ&zoom=1&ved=1t:3588,r:36,s:0,i:198&iact=rc&dur=1823&page=2&tbnh=184&tbnw=232&start=17&ndsp=23&tx=100&ty=58



management, there is an emerging need for a tool to allow better merging of

bathymetry with land information in the intertidal zone. The key linking factor

between these two is augmented GNSS. It is a common vertical reference

datum that is used for both land and marine mapping. This is a future

development requirement (Keysers, 2013).

6.3.2 Geotechnical surveys

The early stages of exploration for offshore oil and gas involve surveys run

from specially equipped seismic survey vessels. These vessels broadcast sound

waves that when reflected back from sedimentary layers beneath the seabed

provide data that assists geologists interpret the sub-seabed geological

structures (see Figure 5).

Figure 5 Seismic survey

Data source: Woodside

The track of the survey vessel must be known with high accuracy and reliability

in order to map the results for subsequent analysis. If the survey vessel’s

position is not recorded correctly the resulting analysis can be degraded.

Augmented GNSS is used by these vessels to provide an accurate record of the

survey tracks. Industry consultations indicated that the greater precision with

augmented GNSS resulted in more accurate outcomes and better results than

with stand-alone GNSS.

6.4 Mobile drilling rigs

Deepwater exploration for oil and gas is undertaken by mobile drilling rigs.

These are large floating pontoons that can be towed from location to location.

Once in position the drilling platform is anchored in place while drilling

operations proceed.


Future directions – e-navigation 17

Mobile drilling rigs require high levels of positioning precision both in terms of

horizontal accuracy and reliability. Their location is important as drilling

operations are directed from their platforms and high levels of certainty and

precision are required to direct the drill lines and accurately record the location

for analysis of results.

Stand-alone GNSS does not provide the level of positional accuracy or

reliability and integrity for location of mobile drilling rigs. The alternative

approach would involve additional set up costs to position the drilling rig prior

to anchoring to the sea bed.

7 Future directions – e-navigation

The most recent developments under consideration by the Maritime Safety

Committee of the IMO in its work on navigation, radio communications and

search and rescue is the development of an e-navigation strategy. The aim of

the e-navigation strategy is to integrate the existing and emerging navigation

tools and in particular electronic tools including GNSS and augmented GNSS

to enhance future navigation safety. ( (IMO, July 2007).

This development recognises that the majority of collisions or groundings are

caused by human error and the cost of these (to both companies and

administrations) is rising each year (Lemon, 2010).

E-navigation has the potential to deliver improvements through the integration

of ECDIS, GNSS, AIS and radar, along with improved links between ship and

shore. Precise GNSS is a basic component of this technology mix in the areas

identified earlier in this report.

7.1 Benefits

Augmented GNSS is an enabling technology that has a place in future e-

navigation solutions. E-navigation systems in turn are an aid to navigation

decision making by officers on the bridge. A search of literature did not

identify any economic studies of the possible economic benefits of e-

navigation. However one paper suggests e-navigation could improve the

reliability of human decisions on the bridge by a factor of 10 (IMO, 2009).

Better decisions reduce the risk of marine accidents, and oil spills. As discussed

earlier the economic and environmental costs of oil spills can be extremely

high.

8 Economic and social impacts

It is also difficult to envisage a maritime sector without augmented GNSS. The

regulatory requirements for the use of augmented GNSS in navigation aids and

with systems such as ECDIS, VTS and AIS, are established under an

international framework. These requirements were introduced over the years in


Economic and social impacts 18

recognition of the economic and social values associated with safety of

navigation.

Attribution of benefits arising from augmented GNSS must take into account

the fact that it is an enabling technology in most cases incorporated into other

navigation systems. The economic and social benefits include intangible but

significant benefits from safety of life at sea, protection of the marine

environment and in particular reducing the risk of maritime accidents and oil

spills.

Direct economic benefits include reduced costs for the shipping industry from

more efficient pilotage in ports and harbours, lower average annual cost of

downtime from accidents, lower average costs of oil spills and support for

trade conveyed by shipping through environmentally sensitive areas.

A list of potential economic and environmental benefits of applications in the

maritime sector is provided in Table 1. These estimates represent only benefits

that we have been able to quantify. They are therefore considered to be

conservative.

Table 1 Estimates of the benefits derived from navigation technologies dependent on augmented GNSS

Sector Application and benefit 2012 2020

Shipping

industry

Reduced costs of maritime

accidents.

Reduced costs of

groundings. $0.6 million

savings in lost time

reported in Section 5.1.

Reduced costs of

groundings.

$0.8 million based on

savings reported in

section 5.1

Full development of e

navigation is estimated

to have the potential to

Improve decision making

on the bridge by a factor

of 10. (Section 7.1).

Greater shipping capacity

through the Torres Strait

with under keel clearance

technologies

Not applicable in 2012. Between $10 million

and $13 million per

year (Thomson Clarke,

March 2007). Section

4.1.

Ports More precise pilotage and

improved channel

tolerances reducing the cost

of buoys and dredging.

Savings of around $1.8

million per year.

(Section 4.1)

Benefits likely to grow

slowly as demand on

major ports increases

with LNG and other

minerals exports

increase.

Savings of $2 million

per year assumed.

(Section 4.1)

Offshore oil

and gas

industry

Lower costs in seismic

surveys, positioning mobile

drilling platforms and from

dynamic positioning


per year.


per year.


Economic and social impacts 19

Sector Application and benefit 2012 2020

Fishing,

tourism and

resources

industries

Improved safety in the

Torres Strait and GBR

marine park reduces risk of

loss of income from

maritime accidents,

groundings and oil pollution

and spills.

The value of augmented

GNSS as a navigation

support service for

vessel track and VTS is

in part in ensuring that

this trade can continue.

Value of trade in the

Torres Strait is likely to

grow by at least 70 per

cent by 2020 based on

studies (Thomson

Clarke, March 2007)

(BITRE, 2012)

The

environment

National Plan to Combat

Pollution of the Sea by Oil

and other Hazardous

Materials. Established in

1975. (AMSA, October

2012)

Oil spill risk of $1.8

million (ACIL Allen

estimate based on

impact of VTS on

groundings). Section

5.3.

Oil spill risk of $3.4

million (ACIL Allen

estimate based on

impact of VTS on

groundings). Section

5.3.

Total

quantifiable

benefits to

shipping

industry

All benefits apart from

offshore geophysical

surveys are attributable to

the shipping industry.

Geophysical surveys are

reported in the mining

sector.

Total quantifiable

benefits identified above

total around $4.2

million. This equivalent

to around 0.07% of

sector output.

Total quantifiable

benefits identified above

total around $16.2

million. This equivalent

to around 0.30% of

sector output.

Note: Estimates are based on studies and consultations with industry and government.

Data source: Data in the table is compiled from information included in the report.

The last row shows the benefits from applications of augmented GNSS that

we consider can be attributed to the maritime sector. The last row shows that

the total benefits are estimated to be around $4.2 million in 2012 and 16.2

million by 2020. These amounts represent around 0.07 per cent and 0.30 per

cent of total output from the maritime sector.

The most value of augmented GNSS in the maritime sector is its contribution

to safer navigation, improved safety of life at sea and protection of the marine

environment. The value of the latter is difficult to estimate with certainty.

However the potential social and environmental benefits are likely to be

significantly higher than the direct economic benefits.


Glossary of terms A-1

Appendix A Glossary of terms Term Meaning

AIS Automatic Identification System

AMSA Australian Maritime Safety Authority

AUSVTS Australian Vessel Traffic System

ECDIS Electronic Charting and Display Information System

GBR Great Barrier Reef

GNSS Global Navigational Satellite System

GPS Global Positioning System – originally the term for the US Navstar

GNSS

IMO International Maritime Organisation

PNT Position Navigation and Timing

PPU Portable Pilot Unit

REEFVTS Vessel Traffic System in the Torres Strait and Great Barrier Reef

Marine Park

UKC Under Keel Clearance

VTS Vessel Traffic System


National Plan for Combat of Oil Pollution at Sea B-1

Appendix B National Plan for Combat of Oil Pollution at Sea

B.1 Background

The National Plan was established in 1973 as a national integrated

Government and Industry organisation framework enabling an effective

response to marine pollution incidents. The plan provides a national

framework for responding promptly to marine pollution incidents by

maintaining:

• National Marine Oil and Chemical Spill Contingency Plans

• Detailed state and industry contingency plans

• Strategically placed response equipment

• National training programs (AMSA, October 2012).

B.2 History of oil spills in Australia

Table 2 History of oil spills

Date Source of Spill Location Spill volume

28/06/1999 Mobile Refinery Port Stanvac, SA 230 tonnes

26/07/1999 MV Torungen Varanus Island, WA 25 tonnes

03/08/1999 Laura D’Amato Sydney, NSW 250 tonnes

18/12/1999 Sylvan Arrow Wilson’s Promontory,

VIC <2 tonnes

02/09/2001 Pax Phoenix Holbourne Island, QLD <1 tonne

25/12/2002 Pacific Quest Border Island, QLD

Volumetric estimate

unavailable but >70 km

slick reported

24/01/2006 Global Peace Gladstone, QLD 25 tonnes

08/06/2007 Pasha Bulker Newcastle, NSW

Nill spill volume.

Significant bumkers

and lubricant oil held

onboard posing a threat

during vessel salvage

11/03/2009 Pacific Adventurer Moreton Island, QLD 270 tonnes

21/08/2009 Montara Wellhead NW Australian coast ~4,750 tonnes

03/04/2010 Shen Neng 1 Near Great Keppel

Island, QLD 4 tonnes

Source: (AMSA, October 2012)

B.3 Risk assessment

A risk assessment Commissioned by AMSA was carried out by DNV in 2011

taking into account safety measures, including:


National Plan for Combat of Oil Pollution at Sea B-2

• Requirements for doubled hull protection

• Traffic separation schemes

• Vessel Traffic Services

• Compulsory pilotage

• Emergency towage vessels.

The estimate also reviewed 2020 taking into account

• 79 per cent growth in national port traffic by 2020

• 81 per cent growth in national traffic by sea by 2020

• Offshore oil production would reduce by 89 per cent while condensate

production would increase by 73 per cent (AMSA, October 2012)

The study did not take into account the impact of LNG shipping that is also

expected to grow significantly in the coming 7 years.

Oil spill risk for 2011 and 2020 is summarised in the following tables.

Table 3 Oil spill risk assessment 2011

Source ERI (million A$ per year) %

Trading ships at sea 2.6 29.1%

Trading ships in port 4.5 49.7%

Small commercial vessels 0.1 1.2%

Offshore production 0.6 6.2%

Offshore drilling 0.2 2.3%

Shore based 1.1 11.5%

Total 9.1 100.0%


Table 4 Oil spill risk assessment 2020

Source ERI (million A$ per year) % of 2020 % Increase from

2010

Trading ships at sea 5.0 28.3% 91%

Trading ships in port 10.9 60.9% 141%

Small commercial vessels 0.1 0.6% 7%

Offshore production 0.4 2.3% -28%

Offshore drilling 0.2 1.2% 0%

Shore based 1.2 6.7% 14%

Total 17 100.0% 96%



Minimum maritime user requirements C-1

Appendix C Minimum maritime user requirements


References D-1

Appendix D References Access Economics. (2005). The Economic and Financial Value of the Great Barrier Reef Marine

Park. Townsville: Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.

AMSA. (2012). 2012 Annual Report. Canberra: Australain Maritime Safety Authority.

AMSA. (2012). Differential Global Positioning System DGPS Fact Sheet. Canberra: Australian Maritime Safety Authority.

AMSA. (April 2010). Improving safe navigation in the Great Barrier Reef. Canberra: Australian Maritime Safety Authority.

AMSA. (July 2011). REEFVTS User Guide. Canberra: Australian Maritime Safety Authority.

AMSA. (March 2012). Submission to the Department of Transport and Infrastructure on National Positioning Infrastructure. Canberra: Australian Maritime Safety Authority.

AMSA. (October 2012). Report on the 2011-12 review of the National Plan to Combat Oil Pollution of the Sea by Oil and other Hazardous Materials. Canberra: Australian Maritime Safety Authority.

BITRE. (2012). Australian Sea Freight 201-11. Canberra: Australian Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport and Regional Economics.

HANSA. (2013). Charter rates. International Maritime Journal.

IMO. (2001). Resolution A.915(22). London: International Maritime Organization.

IMO. (2009). MSC 85/26/Add 1 Annex 20. London: Internaitional Maritime Organization.

IMO. (July 2007). Navigation Committee meeting 53. London: IMO.

International Maritime Organization. (2001). Revised maritime policy and reqwuirements for a future GNSS. London: International Maritime Organisation.

Keysers, J. (2013). Vertical Datum Trasnforation across the Australian Littoral Zone. Melbourne: CRC Si.

Lemon, N. (2010). e-navigation - a new paradigm. Canberra: Australian Maritime Safety Authority.

Navicom Dynamics. (2013). Harbour Pilot Portable Navigation Unit Brochure. [email protected].

PGM Environment. (2012). Great Barrier Reef Shipping: Reveiw of Environmental Implications. Safety Bay WA: PGM Environment.

Thomson Clarke. (March 2007). Assistance with the Implementation of an under keel clearance system for Torres Strait. Canberra: Australian Maritime Safety Authority.

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